


Just One More Year

by Migraineinoursickbrains



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: AU, Angst, Bullying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Homophobia, Hurt/Comfort, Love, M/M, Romance, Tyler's Parents Have No Idea, Unpopular! Tyler, Violence, joshler - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-08
Updated: 2016-09-16
Packaged: 2018-08-13 22:39:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7988746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Migraineinoursickbrains/pseuds/Migraineinoursickbrains
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tyler isn't too popular at school and can't wait to leave. Just one more year of the bullying. Just one more year before he leaves this place forever, never turning back. This is until he's chased into a music store and meets Josh. A quiet man who works there, the two make a connection which the two of them can't quite figure out, but maybe they can figure it out together? Joshler,AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Tyler's POV

He kept his head down, gritting his teeth. He could hear the footsteps behind him growing closer behind him. The words which would be thrown at him echoed in his head before he even heard them. The jeers, the names and the shoving were nothing that he hadn't become accustom to.

'One more year'. He had repeated the phase, running it through his mind over and over again. He used it as an anchor to stop him from wanting to drift away from this world like he so often did. Only one more year of high school and he was out of here. Moving as far away from this place as possible.

"Hey faggot, I'm talking to you!" The voice bringing him out of his thoughts. He wasn't sure how many insults he had missed but he didn't feel sorry about it. Though, his heart skipped a beat as a hand reach out and roughly grabbed his arm, spinning him around.

"Don't touch me," he grounded out between his clenched teeth, yanking his arm out of the other boys grip.

"Oh yeah? What are you going to do about it?" Tate said a ruthless grin on his face. He moved closer trying to intimidate him, looking down on him with the extra few feet he had on him.

Tate and his 'gang' were a group of jocks who believed they owned the school and everyone in it, proceeding to pray on the weak and keeping the people who were strong in their place. It was a curious system which seemed to be wherever you went in the world.

He was shoved backwards into a bunch of lockers, causing pain to shoot up his back and into his shoulder blades. They seemed to have had enough after this and continued their rampage down the corridor, leaving him behind.

He didn't waste any time in heading for the exit. The final bell had rung at least ten minutes ago, which meant that he'd already been here for ten minutes longer than he had wanted or needed to. Ignoring the painful forming bruise which he was sure was appearing on his shoulders, he pushed made his way into the parking lot. He could see the groups forming and dispersing as people said goodbye to their friends and went home.

He quickened his pace as he walked towards the gates. His house wasn't too far from the school, so his parents said and he'd walked home for the past four years. Though, his parents hadn't got a clue about his situation, if that's what you called it. Getting bullied, was that a situation? He didn't know.

"Hey emo, tell your noose hi for me!" Tate yelled from behind him and he looked over his shoulder. Tate was standing with a couple other people now, Ben and Ryan. Probably the people who he was with the most, his best friends you could say. They stood by the gates, Tate leaning on it as if it gave him some purpose, 'leader status'.

He turned to face them. "I will, I can introduce you if you want. I think you could be great friends," he yelled back and he could instantly see his mistake. Tate didn't seem to take sarcasm or sassy remarks very well, never had, but of course sometimes he couldn't resist. Tate had stood up from the gate and before he had even finished his sentence they had started for him, their pace quick.

As soon as he realised he turned and ran. There was no way he could go home with a black eye and there didn't seem to be any teachers around to stop Tate and his gang beating the crap out of him. Not that they would have stopped them anyway. He'd noticed many times when a teacher had seen Tate hit or push him or someone else and it had been ignored, because they were either too lazy to get involved or scared that Tate and his 'gang' would mess around in their classes.

He didn't like to run. He and exercise didn't really get along, but when he needed it his body never let him down. He was fast, but when he looked over his shoulder he knew they wouldn't be far behind. He needed to stop talking back to athletes.

Turning the corner, he saw a bunch of stores halfway up the street. Quickening his run as much as he could he headed towards them hearing gaining footsteps behind him, telling him that he was running out of time. His lungs were burning and his chest was heaving, sweat poured off him like he had just run through the rain.

"Just one more year," he said to himself as he lunged into the first store that he saw. The first thing he saw was a bunch of instruments, though there wasn't much to hide behind. He ran towards the back, passing a drum kit, a piano, and a bunch of guitars. He hadn't even had a clue that this place was even here.

There was a man behind a desk, which was blocking the back of the room from the front. He assumed that this is where you went to pay for something or if you had any queries. He didn't hardly acknowledge the man as he ran towards the desk and jumped over it, crouching down by the man's feet.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing?!" The man's yelled though there wasn't really any anger in the man voice, more concern than anything.

"Please, don't tell them I'm here. They'll hurt me," he said looking dead into the man's chocolate brown eyes. Just as the man's mouth opened to ask another question, the door to the store flew open, the bang making both him and the man above him flinch.

"Where is he? We saw him come in here!?" Tate asked, the footsteps coming closer to the desk. He looked around trying to look for somewhere else he could go. He would surely be caught if he stayed here.

"I don't know what you're talking about," the man behind the desk said rather convincingly. But Tate obviously wasn't convinced because the next thing he heard was a big crash, whatever it was, it sounded expensive.

"I said, where is he?" Tate asked again and he saw the man above him bite his lip. He was thinking about giving him up, not that he could blame him. He tried to keep quiet as his chest rose and fell quickly from his run, the sound of him panting was not what they needed right now.

"Get out before I call the police. You have no right to come in her and start pushing instruments over, so leave. Now," the guy said his hands were holding on tightly onto the edge of the desk.

His stomach filled with guilt as another crash sounded, followed by the door opening and finally falling closed. There was a moment of silence and the man's eyes were on the front of the store, his hands still firmly clutched onto the side of the desk, like he depended on it to keep him standing. "They're not leaving, they're waiting outside for you," the man said taking a glance down at him.

For the first time he got a good look at the guys face. His hair being the most prominent factor due to it being bright red, but his face was sweet. His cheek bones soft and beautiful. He'd never seen a man like him.

"I'm sorry, I just ran into the first store I saw. I couldn't run for much longer, I needed to stop," he said sucking in air properly needing oxygen. He felt like he couldn't breathe.

"Dude, it's ok. Don't worry about it, I understand. I would have done the same thing. I'm Josh by the way," the man said and he felt himself relax slightly. At least he had a name for the guy that had just saved him from a beating. The man still stared forward, only taking small glanced down at him every so often.

"Tyler," was all he replied, still trying to catch his breath. Big breaths in and long breaths out. Soon he felt back in control. "Are they still there?" He asked and Josh nodded.

"Do you want me to call the police?" Josh asked and he shook his head, running both hands through his hair.

"No, is there another way out? A back way?" He asked and Josh smiled before nodding. He couldn't help but notice how amazingly good Josh looked when he smiled.

"Yeah. Look I'm about to close the store anyway. I'll need to sort this mess out tomorrow, but my cars out back. Let me drive you home," Josh said and he looked up, slightly taken back.

"I don't want to bother you anymore than I already have," he replied in a hushed tone and Josh shook his head.

"Don't worry about it. I'd feel better about knowing you got home safe anyway," Josh said and he thought about it for a second as Josh moved from behind the desk and disappeared out into the main part of the store. There was a moment where he believed that Josh was going to go and confront Tate but Josh returned a second later with a key in his hand. "Locked the front door, so do you want a ride or not?" Josh asked again and he nodded.

"Yes that would be great," he replied with a small smile. Keeping low he followed Josh further back into the store, there just seemed to be more instruments and boxed equipment, as well as an assortment of dust and cobwebs. Just as he was questioning there being a back entrance at all, there it was. A shoddy door which looked like it could hardly hold itself up on its hinges.

Josh left first looking both ways to ensure that Tate hadn't made his way around the back, and then he gestured for him to follow him. Gladly he stood upright and made his way into the fresh air, out the back there was a tiny car pack which only had one car in it. It was a small white Peugeot 106.

"That yours?" He asked raising an eyebrow. Josh finished locking up the back door and setting the alarm before turning to him.

"Hey, I love that car. It's my first and all I could afford. Cars are expensive," Josh defended and he nodded containing a smile. "You can walk home if you want," Josh huffed as they continued towards the car.

He held his hands up and laughed. "I was just asking if it was yours," he said and Josh shook his head.

"It was the way you asked," Josh said with a pout, a smile was hidden in it somewhere he was sure. Josh unlocked the doors and the promptly climbed in, luckily the car park led out to the road behind the store, which meant they wouldn't have to drive past Tate and his lot. He was glad for that because he didn't want Josh to also have his car damaged to go along with his store.

The drove in silence, other than him giving directions to his house every so often. They were only a ten minute drive away, even though he had run the complete opposite direction when he'd left the school. Josh pulled up outside his house and they both sat quietly.

"Thank you for everything," he spoke up, turning to Josh and giving him a rare full smile.

"It's no problem, really. I've been through a similar thing," Josh replied turning away, like just saying it gave him awful memories.

"Well… I can't go to school tomorrow. I think they'll probably kill me, so what time do you get to the store? I'll help clear up the mess they made. It's the least I can do," he said but Josh shook his head.

"I'll do it, don't worry about it. It's not like you did it," Josh said but he wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"What time?" He asked a second time. "You can tell me or I'll just turn up really early and wait outside," he said and Josh looked at him, biting his lip slightly again. Maybe he did it when he made decisions?

"Eight," was all Josh said and he nodded.

"See you then, thanks again Josh," he said and with that he got out of the car and waited on the sidewalk as Josh drove away and his car disappeared out of sight.


	2. Chapter 2

Tyler's POV

Being at home was different. Growing up in a tight knitted family had taught him that he'd never want to see them unhappy. Not for him and definitely not because of him. And so when he started to get depressed at the age of fifteen he never told his parents and kept it from his brothers, who had now moved away to start their lives elsewhere, creating families of their own.

It was like he was hiding this huge part of him from the ones he loved most, which in turn made him more miserable.

As he emerged from him room the morning sun was just rising above the horizon. He could hear his mother moving around the kitchen below, singing to the radio in a hushed tone so that she didn't wake anyone up.

He forced a smile onto his face in practice, as it hardly came naturally anymore. His cheeks even ached slightly at the unnatural pressure. He moved down the stairs slowly, each one leading closer to all the lies he would tell that morning. Even the thought was a stab in the gut.

When he finally touched the bottom he could already see his mother sorting out his breakfast and laying it out on the table. She looked up at the right time and caught him staring, sending him that stunning smile. "Morning Ty," she said and he put on his winning smile, continuing on into the kitchen.

"Morning mum," he replied giving his mother a kiss on the cheek before taking a seat in front of his newly made breakfast. Scrambled eggs on toast. "Thanks," he added tucking in.

"Were you ok yesterday? I didn't see much of you when you got home, you went straight to your room. In fact you've been doing that a lot lately," his mother asked taking the seat next to him at the dinner table and moving the chair a little closer. Too close.

"I'm fine mum, just tired. I've been getting a lot more homework now that it's the last year and all," he explained and his saw his mum relax somewhat. She moved the chair back a little, allowing him some breathing room and reached for his hand. He couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that she didn't pry anymore, she didn't even hesitate to believe that he was ok.

"I'm proud of you Ty," she continued and gave his hand a soft squeeze. He looked up at her slightly surprised and managed a genuine smile this time, feeling his cheeks heat up under the compliment. "Thank you. I've got to get going or I'm going to be late," he said getting up from the table before bending down to give his mother another kiss on the cheek.

"Have a good day at school Ty," his mother called after him as he made his was towards the front door, scooping up his bag which he'd dropped in the hallway when he'd gotten home the day before.

"Bye mum," he called, not looking back as he opened the door and slammed it closed behind him.

…..

Josh's POV

As he drove into the parking lot behind 'Make it Loud', the music store which worked full time at, he flicked his eyes towards the time on the radio. 7:45, fifteen minutes before Tyler should arrive. Not that he had any hopes of the boy arriving at all.

He knew that no one else was on shift today so when he unlocked the building and made his way through the back-way he wasn't surprised to find it exactly how they had left it yesterday. Two drum sets had been thrown across the floor, as well as, a piano and a bunch of guitars. He hoped that none of them were in anyway unsaleable, because that would be coming out of his pay check.

He also knew that Joe, the manager and owner of the store would not be happy to find out what had happened, he should have called the police, but he knew that it would have made Tyler's situation a whole lot worse than it already was if he had. Not that he saw Joe all that much, he was lucky if he saw him once in a whole month. He himself basically ran the place, dealt with customers, ordered new stock and then placed it out when it was needed. Joe did all of the behind the scenes stuff and managed all of the money.

There was also only one other employee who worked when he went on holidays or was too sick to work, but their paths rarely passed. So he was pretty lonely was what he was getting at.

He ran a hand through his hair, pulling a few red stray hairs which had been hanging down on his forehead out of his eyes. His head had been running through the events of the day before ever since he had dropped off Tyler at his house. The flash backs of his past flickering in front of his eyes, as he thought about it with dismay.

He was pulled out of the daydream by a knock on the front door, causing his heart to skip a beat. He instantly calmed as he saw Tyler's face showed in the window of the dark wooden door. He walked over and unlocked the door, pulling it open and allowing Tyler to come inside. The boy was wearing all black, other than his socks which were red. Though, he could only see them when his jeans came up slightly as he walked.

Tyler made a noise of distaste as he was met with the mess of yesterday and he couldn't hold back a smile. "I did say you didn't need to come and help," he said closing the door again and turning the lock so that no one else could come inside.

"No... I just feel guilty. I hope nothing's broken," Tyler said walking further into the store, picking up one of the fallen guitars and putting it back on the stand with a delicate hand.

"Nothing seems to be, but even if it was it's better than it being your face," he said and Tyler gave him a small glance, a small smile gracing his lips.

"I guess, where do we start then boss?" Tyler asked standing straight and looking to him, the question still in his eyes. He took a moment to stare, Tyler had the most interesting features, but they complimented him perfectly. He quickly shook his head clearing the thought.

"Um, doesn't really matter. The store opens in an hour, but it shouldn't take that long to get everything back to the way it was and replaced if needed," he replied moving towards a fallen drum kit. In the corner of his eyes he could see Tyler picking up more guitars and inspecting them for any signs of damage. A smile grew on his lips and he turned away to make sure that Tyler didn't see.

He turned his focus back to the chore at hand, putting the first of two drum sets back together. He moved around quickly and easily putting the pieces back in place, making sure that none of the important parts had been battered.

"You know your way round drums pretty well, do you play?" Tyler asked as he was screwing a symbol that had come loose back onto its stand. He turned his head and nodded.

"Yeah, I used to be an angry kid. Well… I'm still angry, but playing helps," he explained and Tyler nodded, looking away a slightly pained expression in his eyes. There was a moment of silence before Tyler spoke.

"I write. It's how I deal… with stuff. Lyrics mostly," Tyler told him, as if it was one of his deepest secrets.

"Maybe you could show me someday?" He asked and Tyler paused, holding the last fallen guitar in his hands as if it were his most important possession. He could see his fingers going white under the pressure.

"Maybe," he said quietly, shuffling uncomfortably. "And maybe you could play for me one day?" He asked in return and he smiled.

"Maybe," he replied.


	3. Chapter 3

Josh's POV

It didn't take them long to finish clear up the mess and luckily nothing had been too badly damaged. The worst was one of the guitars having a small scratch on its side where it had landed, though he just moved it to the side reminding himself that he would have to put a discounted price on it later. He had unlocked the door showing that the store was officially open for the day and made his way to his post.

"So what'll happen when you go back to school?" He asked moving behind the counter and staring at Tyler who was leaning on it the other side just opposite him. Though, he only got a shrug in return.

"Probably won't be pretty," Tyler said after a moment of silence. The boy didn't even look him in the eyes, entertaining himself by picking at his fingers.

"Why don't you just move schools? It doesn't really seem safe for you there," he asked and Tyler looked up at him. He could see that Tyler was biting the insides of his cheeks.

"I can't… not without tell my parents how my life really is; how miserable I am," Tyler spoke softly and he got the feeling that he hadn't told many people this. "We don't need to talk about this," Tyler continued turning away from him and staring at the front door. For a moment he thought Tyler was just going to leave. Whatever friendship that was forming being crippled before it had even begun. But then he sighed and turned back, bowing his head.

"You can come here whenever you want. I'll be here most of the time. I know it's not much but… I understand," he told him and Tyler look up at him again, his eyes squinted in slight anger.

"You keep saying stuff like that, you understand? What does that even mean?" Tyler spat and his mouth fell slightly open shocked at the other boy's response.

"I didn't mean to belittle your situation, what I mean is that I've been where you are and it sucked," he replied and Tyler took a step back.

"We've only know each other a day. Don't act like you know me," Tyler said and he took a breath. This guy was a piece of work. Though, he could see the stress in Tyler's face and softened his tone.

"Tyler…," he started but Tyler shook his head and moved back to leaning on the counter.

"I'm sorry, I-I, thank you. I'm not used to people being so nice to me," Tyler interrupted running one of his hands through his hair, which left his hair standing slightly upright.

"Don't worry about it Ty… can I call you Ty?" He asked and Tyler nodded.

"Sure, though I'm not sure I could shorten your name into anything. I could call you J but I think Josh suits you better," Tyler laughed and he smiled. Tyler's laugh suited him, it was a shame that he didn't seem to use it very often.

"Well Joshua is my full name, so I guess Josh is my nickname," he said and Tyler raised an eyebrow.

"Joshua, now that's adorable," Tyler said and he shook his head, biting his lip as he tried to conceal a laugh.

"Why do you think I tell everyone just to call me Josh?" He said reaching for a leaflet which had been left on the side of the counter, before screwing it up and throwing it a Tyler who avoided it surprisingly well.

"What's your second name?" Tyler asked and it was his turn to raise an eyebrow.

"Joshua Dun," he answered. "And yours?" He asked before Tyler could comment on it because trust me, he'd heard all of the puns.

"Tyler Joseph," Tyler replied and he cocked his head.

"That's a bit greedy don't you think? Having two first names," he said and Tyler smiled and nodded.

"Yes, I do agree. Are you DUN?" Tyler said picking up the leaflet he'd picked up earlier and threw it back at him. He couldn't dodge as well as Tyler and it bounced off his shoulder.

"Ok I asked for that one," he said with a giggle, though it slowly fell off into silence when he heard a group of voices come from outside the front of the store. "Tyler get down," he said though Tyler had heard it too and was in the process of ducking down.

"Is it them? Can you tell by their voices?" He asked and Tyler only nodded. "Ok then, get over this side so they can't see you. I don't understand why they're back here, they're definitely consistent," he said anger growing in his voice. There wasn't any reason for them to be here.

Tyler quickly jumped into over the counter ducking down by his feet like he had done the day before, but he shook his head and gestured towards the back of the store. "Go further back, there's no way they'll see you back there," he said but Tyler hesitated.

"What if they start to trash everything?" Tyler asked and he shook his head.

"I'll have to call the police, now please," he said urgently pointing towards the back of the store. Tyler stood for a second longer before moving towards the back of the store, just as the doors to the store opened.

A group of three boys walked into the store, all of who he recognised from the day before. They had smiles on their faces as they made their way to the front of the store leaning on the desk in front of him like Tyler had just been doing.

"Can I help you?" He said not hiding his unwelcoming tone. His hand went to his pocket where his phone was, just in case.

"Well, we were hoping you'd be on shift. We don't like the way you talk to us yesterday, and we don't know if Tyler was here or not but you'd better hope he wasn't," one of the boys said, obviously the leader of the group. He looked familiar to him, though he wasn't quite sure why because other than yesterday he had never seen this boy before.

"You came in asking for a guy who I didn't know and then pushed over a load of instruments, and you want me to apologise?" He asked offended. "Just get out of here or I'm calling the police, and I mean it this time," he continued pointing towards the door with his free hand.

"And there you go again? You guys really don't do well with customer service do you?" One of the boys from behind spoke up. The leader nodded and leaned further in towards him.

"You're a freak, I bet people beat the shit out of you when you were in high school," he flinched, the leader knew how to push buttons and he didn't like it. Slowly he pulled out his phone and brought it up, showing the group in front of him that he was serious.

"The only freaks I see are you. Bulling people, for what?" He said through gritted teeth.

The leader only shook his head and backed off. It seemed he knew how to hit buttons as well. "We're out of here," the leader said before turning and walking away, the two other boys following behind him, both looking slightly confused that he didn't have a black eye right now. He was slightly confused also, though he was glad that they were leaving not looking behind them as they left. It must have been something he'd said.

Tyler only lasted a minute after the door had closed before he ran out from the back. "I'm so sorry! Are you ok? They didn't touch you did they?" Tyler looked manic and he looked him up and down for injuries.

"No, no I'm fine. They weren't even here for long. I may have pissed him off though," he pointed out and Tyler looked at him with wide eyes.

"Yeah I heard that part, but don't worry they'll forget about you soon enough. Once I go back to school. They're just bored," Tyler explained and he felt hurt at the thought.

"I'd rather them just come here. Ty, if there was something I could do I would," he said and Tyler smiled, it was a sad smile, but a smile none the less.


End file.
